Carpmaels.com
Merck’s silence irrelevant as Sigma left gaspingMerck Canada Inc. holds a UK patent and a
UK SPC covering the active ingredient in the
asthma treatment Singulair. It started an action
for infringement of these rights by Sigma
Pharmaceuticals PLC, which was importing
SPECIFIC MECHANISM
other states, e.g. Bulgaria and Romania.
“With regard to the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary,
Poland, Slovenia or Slovakia, the
holder, or his beneficiary, of a patent or
supplementary protection certificate
state, the rights holder can prevent the
for a pharmaceutical product filed
such protection could not be obtained
Member States for that product, may
rely on the rights granted by that
patent or supplementary protection
certificate in order to prevent the
import and marketing of that product
in the Member State or States where
safety and efficacy. The authority grants
the product in question enjoys patent
a parallel import licence which allows the
It is typically undertaken to exploit price
protection or supplementary protection, importer to take advantage of an existing
even if the product was put on the
market in that new Member State for
the first time by him or with his consent. and effective), and thus allows marketing
Any person intending to import or
covered by the above paragraph in a
Member State where the product enjoys under the specific mechanism, the party
patent or supplementary protection
shall demonstrate to the competent
product is additionally required to inform
authorities in the application regarding
the regulatory authority that it has given
that import that one month’s prior
one month’s notification to the rights
into the accession treaty of these states:
notification has been given to the holder holder in the country of import.
or beneficiary of such protection.”
Case backgroundSigma said that it notified Merck of
its intention to import Polish Singulair
into the UK, as required by the specific
The parties’ argumentsSigma argued that it was not liable for
damages in relation to its activities prior
Sigma that the judge’s interpretation of
the specific mechanism created a burden For more information, please contact:
the patent position might be for a given
Carpmaels & Ransford is a leading firm
publically available registers, or at least
correct Sigma company in the June 2009 their behalf, to determine the position.
letter. Merck also argued that its silence
reference to notice
by the rights holder
Carpmaels & Ransford is regulated by
reference is to notice by the importer
to
This Briefing Note was first published in the
regulatory authority that notice has been importer’s notification under the specific
IAM IP Newsletter.
mechanism. In the present case, Merck’s
silence did not imply consent, and Sigma
Merck’s rights and Merck was entitled to
Merck’s silence irrelevant as Sigma left gasping
Copyright Carpmaels & Ransford 2012
Source: http://www.carpmaels.com/images/articles/1358258570_-merck-s_silence_irrelevant_as_sigma_left_gasping.pdf
Dr. Richard Lippman: vojna proti staranju (4) Prvi simptom starajo~ih se mo‘ga- nov, {e pred pravimi simptomi senilnosti, je nesposobnost od- zivanja in prilaganja na nove izzive okolja, ugotavlja strokovnjak medici- vzroki bolezni – hormonski vzroki, pus- ne proti staranju dr. Richard Lippman. to{enje prostih radikalov in glikacija – Za obrambo pred vse pogostej{
Hypoparathyroidism Newsletter (The Voice of the Hypoparathyroidism Association, Inc.) 2835 Salmon Idaho Falls, Idaho 83406 USA A Tax-exempt Non-Profit Corporation: 82-0505424 Volume 10 Number 4 1490 Members of Record December 2003 E-Mail: [email protected] Web Site: Phone Number: [email protected] http://www.hypoparathyroidism.org 1-208-524-3